Jose Aldo kept his UFC career perfect, successfully defending his title once again but it was far from easy.
Frankie Edgar showed the heart of a champion and mounted a late challenge to Aldo, but came up short as the champion was awarded the unanimous decision victory after five action-packed rounds.
The speed of Jose Aldo was on display in the first round. Edgar who was the fastest fighter as a lightweight, found his match in his featherweight debut in Aldo. The champion peppered Frankie Edgar with his stiff jab at will throughout the opening round. Aldo followed up with his right hand as well while avoiding almost every striking attempts of Edgar. Aldo then went to his kicks late, punishing the lead leg of Edgar to close a dominating first round.
The champion came out in the second and opened up his arsenal even more. Aldo then went back to his leg kicks, buckling the leg of Edgar. Edgar finally found his range but it was mostly one-and-done as the champion sidestepped the follow up punches of Edgar while connecting with his powerful right hand.
Edgar finally secured a late takedown off of an Aldo kick, but he could not keep Aldo on the mat. As the fight resumed on the feet, Aldo continued to score at will going into the third round.
Edgar came out shooting for a takedown in the third and got it, but again Aldo quickly scrambled back to his feet. Aldo then uncorked a front kick that snapped the head of Edgar straight back. Edgar finally found his rhythm with his one-two combination but Aldo countered nicely with his lead left hook before going right back to his jab. A bloodied Edgar kept coming, putting together a string of leg kicks of his own. Aldo easily shrugged off a late takedown from the challenger to end the round.
The challenger came out strong in the fourth, landing kicks and combinations as Aldo seemed to slow down just a bit. Edgar looked for a takedown but Aldo showed off brilliant defense spinning out of trouble, but the challenger stayed close and in range firing off shots on the break. After another shot, Edgar took the back of Aldo and slammed him to the mat but again failed to maintain control on the ground as Aldo bounced back to his feet.
Aldo went right back to his jab in the final round, then attempted a flying knee before landing with his right hand. Edgar fired back but missed with most of his attempts early in the round as Aldo got back to his superior head movement. Edgar finally got on target with his feet, scoring repeatedly with leg kicks midway through the round. Edgar failed on two takedown attempts but did score in the pocket with just over a minute to go. A battered Edgar continued to score to the bell.
When the scorecards came back, it would be Jose Aldo (22-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) retaining his belt with scores of 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47. The loss for Frankie Edgar (15-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) marks his third consecutive defeat, all three coming in title fights.